The Radiance
by MDAM-FASEGold
Summary: "I am Become Death the Destroyer of Worlds."
1. The Radiance

The Radiance - by MDAM

Admirals and Generals stood on either side, as I watched over the bleak landscape of the Orchard desert on Celestial. Stationed in orbit. We watched as the light of Achernar shone upon the surface of the planet, its beauty unaffected by the ways of man. That was until today.

Nova, it was called, the newest tool in mankind's tools of war tested on this serine speck in the universe, like the whore of Babylon, she would be twisted and turned from the innocence that initially started with into the ghastly depiction of evil and unnerving destruction of all.

There it laid, two switches and a key. I stepped foreword, took a deep breath. I looked to the left. There stood the four leaders of the UNSC military, the navy, the air force, the army and the marines. Though to me I saw Conquest, War, Famine and Death. The four horsemen of the apocalypse, they stood there staring down at the surface. I opened the first cover for the initial arming switch, I moved the aluminium stick forward, a crimson light illuminated.

I look to my right and see my fellow scientists and engineers, the ones who worked night and day to produce this device, all innocent, abiding orders or silenced. With humanity back into the corner of the pale rider, The Office of Naval Intelligence blackmailed and threatened the best minds in the human collective in fields of physics and engineering to create the evil that was condescended into the size of a bed. NOVA, shorted from the explosion of a star was a fitting name; this magnified thermonuclear explosive had the ability to take out a quarter of a planet like Celestial in a matter of seconds. The resulting fallout would blanket the world in a think cloud of radioactive material that would kill of all plant and animal life within a month.

I take off the cover of the second switch and prime the second arming switch; yellow letters appeared on the screens around the room reading, _Nuclear Warheads Armed. _The eyes of everyone on the station were looking at me, a tall middle-aged man with greying black hair and brown eyes, becoming baggy with sleep deprivation. A man with a lab coat stained with coffee and what it had stained into beige. My nails had been chewed to such a point I was surprised my fingers weren't nubs, those same fingers grabbed hold of the transparent covering of a key slot. Slowly I opened it and fumbled around in my left pocket, I felts the ting of metal against my worn nail. I removed it from my pocket and plugged it into its respective socket.

I gulped. _Breath in, breath put._ I thought, then a cleared my throat. "Julius Robertson, NOVA thermonuclear test Alpha, Celestial, Achernar III, Theta Eridani. Detonation in Ten." _Nine, Eight, Seven, Six. _"Five, Four, Three, Two, One, MARK." I turned his hand sharp clockwise; there was a sudden flash as the light of a thousand suns detonated, the shock wave spreading along the surface, like a drop of water falling into a pool of still water, rippling along the surface. My eyes readjusted and took in the view, a mixture of obsidian, maroon and rust colours covered the surface, where white, blues and greens originally took route.

The four horsemen looked at each other in glee, pleased with the effectiveness of the weapon that covered over six thousand kilometres in every direction, creating storms in the air and the surface to glass. The Celestial before had serenity to its beauty, now it gained it from the chaos and entropy that came with the detonation of a 1.2 Petaton explosion. I looked to my right, some of my team made nervous or hysterical laughter as their creation scared this planet ever more. Others cried at the scene that lay before them, they had a right too, his hands and the hands of others had been used to make a weapon that would the Covenant shiver if they ever saw it in action. But most of the people stood there in silence, it was driving my mad, the detonation of this explosive would produce such a noise that it would be able to move stone and rock, and yet the room was in contrast.

However the scene was so unique, so out of the ordinary, we were all left speechless. The scene in front of me reminded me of a Dr Oppenheimers quote. "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of world. I guess we were all thinking of that one way or another."

**MDAM- This is just a short one shot story I came up with, (when I should have been working on Halo: DBD) that I couldn't get out my head and I had to share, the title I nicked from a Linkin Park song which contained the speech of Oppenheimer, this is also were I got the initial inspiration for this story. –MDAM Out**


	2. The Radiance - 1945

The Radiance – By Matthew Milroy

Admirals and Generals stood on either side of me like statues, unwavering, and looking over the bleak landscape of the New Mexico Desert in America. Stationed a fifty miles away, we watched as the light of sun shone upon the surface of the dry sands, its beauty unaffected by the ways of man. That was until today.

Trinity, it was called, the newest tool in mankind's tools of war tested on this soon to be glass land, like the whore of Babylon, she would be twisted and turned frim the innocence that initially started with into the ghastly depiction of evil and unnerving destruction of all.

There it laid, two switches and a key. I stepped foreword, took a deep breath. I looked to the left. There stood the four leaders of the US military, the navy, the air force, the army and the marines. Though to me I saw Conquest, War, Famine and Death. The four horsemen of the apocalypse, they stood there staring down at the surface. I opened the first cover for the initial arming switch, I moved the steel stick switch forward, a crimson light illuminated.

I look to my right and see my fellow scientists and engineers, the ones who worked night and day for months to produce this device, all innocent, abiding orders or silenced. The military blackmailed and threatened the best minds in the human collective in fields of physics and engineering to create the evil that was condescended into the size of a car. Trinity was a fitting name, its power so great it rivalled that of god's wrath, with the ability to level cities in seconds; this uncontrolled fission explosive had the ability to take out a city the size of Manhattan in a matter of seconds. The resulting fallout would blanket the surrounding area in a radioactive material that would kill off plant and animal life with ease.

I take off the red cover of the second switch and primed switch; yellow letters appeared on the screens around the room reading, _Nuclear Warhead Armed. _The eyes of everyone on the station were looking at me, a tall middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair and chestnut eyes, becoming baggy with sleep deprivation. A man with a lab coat stained with coffee and what it had stained into beige. My nails had been chewed to such a point I was surprised my fingers weren't stubs, those same fingers grabbed hold of the transparent covering of a key slot. Slowly I opened it and fumbled around in my left pocket, I felts the ting of metal against my worn nail. I removed it from my pocket and plugged it into its respective socket.

I gulped. _Breathe in. Breathe out._ I thought, then a cleared my throat. "Julius Robert Oppenheimer, Trinity nuclear fission test Charlie, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, USA. Detonation in Ten." _Nine._ My hands became to perspire._ Eight._ A bead of sweat moved from my brow to my chin in the hot desert air._ Seven._ My throat felt like it was going to suffocate me._ Six._ I tired to take deep and calm breaths without avail."Five." My tight throat choked out. "Four" I gripped the steel detonation key tightly. "Three." My right hand trembling under the immense pressure. "Two." I lowered my goggles with my left hand. "One." I turned my head to face the untouched surface one last time. "MARK." _May god a have mercy onto my soul._ I prayed.

I turned his hand sharp clockwise; there was a sudden flash as the light of a hundred thousand suns detonated, the shock wave spreading along the surface, like a drop of water falling into a pool of still water, rippling along the surface. My eyes readjusted and took in the view, the sudden explosion disturbing the dust on the floor and the slowly growing growl of the on coming shockwave. When the wave hit us, it had lost much of its energy and felt nothing more than a wind on a rainy day. But the fine dry sand blew in my face, but this was the only feeling that my colleagues or me could comprehend.

The four horsemen looked at each other in glee, pleased with the effectiveness of the weapon that covered over 30 kilometres in every direction, creating a 12 kilometre high mushroom cloud in the air and the surface to glass. The desert before had serenity from its beauty, now it gained it from the chaos and entropy that came with the detonation of a 20-kiloton explosion.

I looked to my right some of them made nervous or hysterical laughter, as their creation became a smelter, which turned the surface from rocks and sand to shards of emerald glass. Others cried at the scene that lay before them, they had a right too, his hands and the hands of others had been used to make the enemies of the allied forces shiver if they ever saw it in action. But most of the people stood there in silence, it was driving me mad, the shock wave had passed and we all stood in silence, gazing at the ever-growing cloud, sitting in the silence of this destruction.

However the scene was so unique, so out of the ordinary, we were all left speechless. The scene in front of me reminded me of a verse from the Bhagavad-Gita, a Hindu scripture. "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. I guess we were all thinking of that one way or another."


End file.
